I Never Dreamed this Would Happen

Post On Thursday, February 06, 2014 By Cana

Â It was January 28th, my blood test came back positive and I was pregnant! Something I never thought was possible. I had two donated embryos transferred just eleven days before and now my dream of being pregnant and experiencing the joys that came with that were mine. My pregnancy was difficult from the start. I developed severe morning sickness which lasted 15 weeks, then developed a terrible stomach bug that sent my health into another downward spiral for several more weeks. I never developed an appetite until I was around 22 weeks pregnant. I finally began to feel better and gain weight. At my 28 week appointment everything looked great. I had normal blood pressure, no trace of protein in my urine, and hardly any pregnancy swelling. It went downhill from there. I began to just feel bad. My face started looking puffy, I had a migraine (never had one before that) and I just felt like something was wrong. The night before my 30 week appointment I told my husband that something just wasn't right and I was so glad to be going to my midwife the next day. I left the next morning for an appointment and didn't return home again for eight weeks. My midwife found large amounts of protein in my urine and my blood pressure was very high for me. I told her of my headache and swelling and she immediately took me to the nearest hospital for further monitoring. The doctor came into my room and blew my socks off by telling me that I had developed sever preeclampsia and should prepare myself to deliver my baby within days. They immediately gave me a steroid shot and hooked me up to magnesium sulfate. It was a small hospital that didn't deliver babies less than 34 weeks gestation, so I was put on a flight for life plane and flown to Denver. Just four days later it became necessary for my baby to be born so at 31 weeks, I was induced. My body refused to dilate and my baby's heart rate dropped so they performed an emergency c section. As it turns out, my placenta had begun to separate from the wall of my uterus. My son was born at 2lbs and 15oz., and stayed in the NICU six weeks. I had to stay in the hospital a week after my surgery because my preeclampsia got worse postpartum.

I feel blessed that I escaped with my life and my baby's life. I thank God for that. However, the shock and grief of the whole experience is still with me six months later. The things my baby endured in the NICU, the shock of being airlifted and delivering a preemie, the horrors of magnesium, pitocin, and surgery...and so much more. My prayer is that everyone affected by this horrible disease would find comfort and healing. It makes no sense. I am a 27 year old health coach with a BMI of 18.5. I don't fit into many of the risk categories. Thank you for spreading awareness for this. I called my midwife and thanked her for potentially saving my life and my baby's life. If my symptoms had not been taken seriously, I shiver to think what could have happened.

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